Black cumin (not to be confused with the white cumin, [Cuminum], in the carrot family), is a genus of herbaceous annuals that grow from 20-90cm (8-35in) tall. It has finely divided leaves with narrowly linear and threadlike segments.
Its flowers have five to ten petals that are white, yellow, pink, pale blue to purple. These flowers are notable for the numerous seeds their capsules produce. The name "love-in-a-mist" comes from the numerous lacy bracts that surround each flower.
Victorian Flower Language According to Greenaway, under its name "love-in-a-mist," Nigella is indicative of "perplexity." This is likely a reference to the confusion and awkwardness that comes with young or new love.
Gardens Nigella species are popular as ornamental plants.
Flower Arranging While all flowers in these entries are subject to use in flower arranging or flower iconography, it needs to be noted here that the dried seed capsules have also been historically employed in flower arrangement, meaning they're fair game as a stand-in for the bloom.
Insect Repellent The seed pods drive off various insects in much the same way as mothballs.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Digestion Black cumin seeds have been used in traditional medicine as a carminative (treating gas and flatulence) and as a stimulant for GI problems.
GI Anti-Parasitic Black cumin seeds were also employed against intestinal worms.
Nerve Disorders The seeds have a traditional use against nerve defects.
Sense Restoration The seed pods were sniffed to restore lost sense of smell.
Sweat The seeds were consumed to induce sweating.
Black Caraway Nigella seeds, known as black caraway, black coriander, black cumin, black onion seed, charnushka, git, kalonji, onion seed, and Roman coriander, have a history of use as a spice and condiment from Poland to Ethiopia to South Asia.
"Love-in-a-mist" speaks of the haze of love, but its name "devil-in-a-bush" is lascivious in nature. Further combined with the name "black seed," it suggests compulsive sexual charm and that the product of such a coupling is less than desirable. In the most concrete expression of this, this might be the base reagent of a magical scheme to birth demon children into bodies of flesh.
Less dramatically, the above formulation suggests the irrationality of romantic infatuation facilitates the growth of bad habits. Would be good for a curse for sending one down the path of addiction through the vector of a romantic partner.
Conversely, the traditional use of the black seed to expel intestinal parasites suggests it can be used to unroot the black seed of habit and compulsion.
If the flower and its seed pods facilitate impeded cognitive function due to romantic involvement, sniffing the seed pods may return smell to one so impaired, enabling them to sniff out BS in the relationship.
Black caraway might also be employed as a treatment for compulsive liars, dispelling any hot air that might issue from them. Could also be used this way in an interrogation, making the patient "sweat."
Based on the recurring names, it probably has a flavor similar to fennel.
Based on our observations of the magical properties of juniper needles by number, counting-based "counter-magic" may be used to preoccupy the direct magical action of witches and other magical malefactors. A scattering of black carraway may be used to occupy their action through the logic of "You cannot act until you finish counting this."
German: Blaue Jungfer, Braut In Haaren, Garten-Schwarzkummel, Gretchenkraut, Jungfer Im Gras, Jungfer Im Gruenen, Jungfern Im Grunen, Siebengestirn, Spinnenblume
Europe, Southern
Greek: Katrantziki
Italian: Barba Di Cappuccino
Europe, Western
Dutch: Kaardenbol, Keukenranonkel
English: Love-in-a-Mist, Devil-in-the-Bush, Fennel Flower, Lady-in-the-Green, Love Entangled, Love-in-a-Puzzle, Persian Jewels, Ragged Lady, Roman Coriander, Spanish Fennel Flower, Venus' Navelwort, Wild Fennel
French: Amour En Cage, Cheveux De Venus, Grenadier, Nielle De Damas, Nigelle De Damas, Nigelle Damascene
Europe, Southern: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece (Crete, East Aegean Islands), Italy (Sardinia, Sicily), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, Serbia, Spain (Balearic Islands, Canary Islands)
Europe, Western: France (Corsica)
Nigella damascena is an herbaceous annual.
The names we've found for Nigella damascena reinforces the lascivious qualities of names like "devil-in-the-bush." "Ragged lady" suggests the tarnishing of a lady (a woman od standing or dignity). Similarly, "Venus's navelwort" calls on "navel" as a common yonic euphemism, rather than as a medicinal for the gut.
"Lady-in-the-Green" has all the sexual connotations but is agnostic in tone.
"Persian jewels" calls on the luxury of the Orient.
"Love-in-a-puzzle" leans heavily in the more innocent meaning of romantic befuddlement, whereas "love entangled" calls on the entrapping complications of romantic involvement, which is considerably less agnostic.
Nigella sativa is an herbaceous annual notable for its high seed production. Its name sativa is a reference to the plant's role as an actively cultivated food plant
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
This plant has a history of use in the traditional medicine of the Middle East. Persian physician Avicenna recommended using it for dyspnea (shortness of breath) in his work Canon of Medicine.
Black caraway has a long history of use as a spice, with archaeological evidence suggesting cultivation of this plant stretches back at least 3,000 year, based on finds in Egypt and Turkey. A Hittite flask full of the seeds suggests it was used as a condiment.
Today, it is ground into pastes, thrown raw into salad and poultry dishes, dry roasted to flavor meals like roast vegetables, curries, and pulses, and used in the production of tresse cheese.
Most prominent to us is its medicinal use against dyspnea, meaning it returns or imparts breath. As breath has a strong relation to like and spirit, black cumin seeds could be used to counter silencing curses, to temporarily confer animation to the dead for questioning (as the Dungeons & Dragons spell speak with dead), or as a reagent in the golem animation process.
Named for the seed pod's resemblance to a particular bird's toe claw, "Larkspur" is a term that refers to two closely related genera under the Buttercup family. These genera are distinguished primarily by a the number of petals. Delphinium has four distinct petals, while Consolida has one united petal in the same shape as Delphinium. Consolida is also uniformly composed of annuals, while Delphinium is mostly perennials. They're regarded as the same clade. For our interests as writers, they are functionally synonymous. As such, their shared qualities will be prefaced in this shared genera entry.
Dolphin The name Delphinium is derived from the Greek delphínion, used in De Materia Medica. Dioscorides identified this name (obviously) with the flowers' resemblance to a dolphin. That gives this plant access to all the zoological symbolism of the [dolphin].
Scorpion The plant's flowers also resemble the stinger of a scorpion. Between its medical/magical associations and the zoomorphic resemblance, the plant has access to both the meanings of the [scorpion] as well as the antithesis.
Victorian Flower Language Both Greenaway and Roux identify the larkspur with lightness or levity, due to its relationship to the lark and happy, uplifting qualities of that bird's song. Roux identifies this as synergizing with the purple petals (majesty) reaching up to the heavens.
However, the larkspur conveys negative implications as well. Larkspurs come in a variety of colors, and Greenaway tells us the same purple that Roux associates with levity convey haughtiness, and the pink larkspur is an emblem of fickleness.
Other Flower Language Less-concrete attributions we've come across over the course of our research identify larkspur with the fluffy notions of "compassion," "infinite possibility," and "overcoming limits." They can convey to the recipient that the sender considers them "big-hearted," and more substantially it's an emblem of "ardent attachment."
A meaning of still dubious but meatier quality is "crossing boundaries."
Larkspur has seen historical use in the production of blue dye. When the flower's juice is mixed with alum, it produces a blue ink.
Scorpion-Repellent Admittedly, this Compiler is having difficulty sourcing our own note on this, but apparently larkspur was thought to repel scorpions. We suspect this has a relationship to its use as a treatment for scorpion stings and snake bites.
The medieval physician Al-Tamimi identified use of larkspur (more specifically Delphinium peregrinum) in the Levant for this purpose, in the form of elixirs.
This association with the scorpion is likely following the logic of "doctrine of signatures," as the flower resembles the telson of a scorpion (scorpioid). The inclusion of snake bites is probably just the homogenization of venom under the same principle.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Was used historically in elixir to treat scorpion and snake bites.
All parts of either species contain alkaloids* toxic to humans and livestock, especially the seeds. This toxicity reduces with age, so many ranchers opt to delay moving cattle onto high-elevation grazing land, to minimize risk of poisoning.
Larkspur poisoning can cause:
Digestive issues
Skin irritation
Neuromuscular seizure
Cardiac arrest
These effects occur within a few hours of ingestion.
*These alkaloids are diterpenoid, most notably methyllycaconitine. They have "cardiotoxic and neuromuscular blocking effects," which we're pretty sure means they interfere with neurotransmitters.
This compiler suspects that the association of pink larkspur with fickleness is because, in Greenaway's time, pink larkspurs were annuals.
While consistent with the "overcoming limits" and "infinite possibility" meaning, the phrasing "crossing boundaries" can suggest impropriety or transgression. This sort of language is far more adaptive for our purposes, making larkspur a reagent of spurit manifestation. This synergizes with the name "larkspur," indicating the physical grip of a bird (an emblem of spirit) on the world (concrete matter).
"Knight's spur" suggests use as a reagent for taming or compelling horses.
"Knight's spur" may be employed more abstractly to string along those seeking status through service or valor. Could be used in a curse to drive an ambitious and skillful or talented individual off of their career path. Good for court or office intrigue.
"Knight's spur" could also be useful for one's reputation when dealing with those above one's own station, such as a man of common birth walking among the landed gentry as a peer. To this end, a phylactery ring or sachet might do best.
The ink and dye made from the larkspur gives whatever is written or dyed with it access to the qualities of the plant.
Larkspur ink might be good for communication between political confidants, being "repellant" to "scorpions" who might otherwise intercept the communique.
The contrast between the dolphin and the scorpion seems like an opportunity for some terrible chimera. Pack-hunting, echo-locating Eurypterids?
Less dramatically, it could indicate that under the happy facade of the dolphin hides a scorpion, like the cheery office gossip who stabs you in the back. Great heraldic device for a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Alternately, it could work for someone falsely identified as the scorpion, but who is temperamentally closer to the dolphin.
Do something with a scorpion-themed knight.
National device of lark fighting a scorpion?
Common Larkspur (Consolida regalis syn. Delphinium consolida)
Spanish: Aguileña Real, Caballera, Espuela De Caballero
Europe, Western
Dutch: Koren-Ridderspoor, Wilde Ridderspoor
English: Common Larkspur, Bouquet Larkspur, Field Larkspur, Forking Larkspur, Rocket Larkspur, Royal Knight's Spur, Royal Larkspur
French: Pied D'alouette Consoude, Pied D'alouette Des Champs
Asia, Central: Kazakhstan, Tajikistan
Asia, Northern: Russia (Altay, Central European Russia, Chita, East European Russia, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Krym, North Caucasus, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, South European Russia, West Siberia)
Europe, Southern: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia
Europe, Western: Belgium, France
An annual herbaceous perennial. It grows 30-80cm (12-31in) tall, with an erect, hairy stem that branches at the top. Its roots penetrate the soil up to 50cm (20in) deep, making the plant highly drought-resistant.
The inflorescence produces 5-8 flowers in dark blue or purple, blooming May-Aug. Its seeds ripen Jun-Sept.
Useful in ink production.
Retained for name, distribution, and production significance.
Asia, Northern: Russia (Altay, Central European Russia, East European Russia, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, North European Russia, South European Russia, Tuva, West Siberia, Yakutskiya)
Europe, Southern: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia
Europe, Western: France
Candle larkspur is an erect herbaceous perennial that grows up to 1.8m (5.9ft) tall in temperate environments. It is temperature hardy, down to −20 °C (−4 °F), but requires full sun exposure in sheltered areas (presumably meaning shielded from the wind).
It produces spikes of blue or purple flowers in the summer, but its cultivars range in color from the natural blue and purple to pink, cream, and white.
This species of larkspur is the source of many garden cultivars, thriving in the shelter of gardens with deep, rich soil. It is, however, fragile, and it is advised to stake the plant to avoid collapsing flower heads. Handle with gloves to avoid exposure to the plant's poisons.
The plant, like most other larkspurs, is poisonous, and can cause severe discomfort if ingested, even incidentally.
These larkspurs can be huge. Do something with that.
The name "candle larkspur" suggests possible uses. It might resemble a candle, but perhaps it has historical use as a taper, much like mullien ("hedge taper"). This also suggests magical use as a candle, lighting up from a whispered word.
The name "guardian lavender" suggests use in warding and abjuration, on top of its conflation with lavender (due to color, presumably). This could also be expanded to indicate the character of fae/sprites that reside in the plant.
This larkspur is technically a perennial, but it is short-lived and its ability to return the next season is highly unpredictable, making this plant a practical annual for gardeners. Unlike many other larkspurs, its flowers are dispersed rather than growing in single spikes.
This species is regarded as having the most intense blue of any larkspur, though this is subject to cultivar, individual plant, blossom freshness, and growth conditions. However, when all is right, the pigment is so intense that the flower appears to glow or fluoresce in sunlight.
Otherwise, the plant can appear in the following colors: deep to pale blue, white, and a pale pink. Unlike other cultivated larkspurs, this plant has no lavender variety.
Popular in gardening, this plant's perennial unpredictability lends gardeners to purchase plants whole from nurseries than to grow them from seed. The seeds are relatively expensive compare to those of rocket larkspurs and spike-type delphiniums.
It's a larkspur, so it's poisonous.
The intensity of the blue when conditions are right suggests the intensity of an ideal [sapphire.] A "sapphire larkspur" could be an emblem of a "reasonable but difficult goal," compared to the divine paradoxes of something like the [Philosopher's Stone.]
A "sapphire larkspur" in a magical context has access to the full range of virtues and malefics of the sapphire gemstone. The juice of the blossom is now, functionally, liquid sapphire.
Jadwar is a perennial larkspur that grows in the outer ranges of the Himalayas with an altitude range of 2,400-3,600m (8,000-12,000ft) above sea level.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Jadwar is employed in the folk medicine of India, especiallly Unani medicine. The root of the plant is preferred, and has been identified with the following medical virtues:
[Aconite] poisoning
Analgesic
Antifungal
Astringent
Brain diseases
Piles (hemorrhoids)
Toothache
Opium Addiction Jadwar has been referenced in classical literature of the region as being effective in treating opium addiction. According to our sources, this has been studied as having some validity, though the same studies indicate misidentification of species in the folk use, which also lead to Delphinium poisoning.
Still a Larkspur, treat with caution.
The use of Jadwar to treat aconite poisoning suggest it could be used as an antagonist to any of the properties magically ascribed to wolfsbane, being effective for counterspells, counter-curses, and disenchantment. Alternately, Jadwar could be used as a preventative, preempting use of wolfsbane.
Musk Larkspur grows up to 10-25cm (3.9-9.8in) tall. It grows at altitudes of 4,300-5,500m (14,100-18,000ft) above sea level on rocky mountains and screes.
This larkspur produces racemes with 5-10 blue or purple cup-shaped flowers, which produce a strong, musky odor that lends this species its name. This larkspur blooms from July-Sept.
Europe, Southern: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece (Crete, East Aegean Islands), Italy (Corsica, Sicily), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia
Europe, Western: France
Annual larkspur popular in gardens, capable of growing up to 1m (3.2ft) tall. It flowers from June to October in Europe.
The markings in its interior sometimes resemble the letters "A I A," which is why it came to be associated with the Greek hero Ajax, of Illiad fame.
By virtue of its association with Ajax, we read this species as indicating rage, strength, shame, and suicide.
Mythical Origin In one version of the myths of the Trojan War, Ajax lost the argument over the ownership of Achilles' armor to the silver-tongued Odysseus, and in his rage he went out and slaughtered the cattle of his Greek companions (Skinner identifies these as sheep). When he came back to his senses, he was so overcome with shame at what he had done that he buried his sword and threw himself upon it. The blood that poured from the fatal wound seeped into the soil, and from that blood sprang Ajax's larkspur.
This is an excellent reagent for rage curses, especially if the caster of the curse intends for the target to follow the same pattern: rage → regret/shame → suicide.
Europe, Southern: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece (Crete, East Aegean Islands), Italy (Sicily), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia
Biome: Fields, scrubland, chalk terraces.
The violet larkspur grows 17-35cm (6.6-13.8in) tall, with deep purple to lavender flowers that resemble scorpion tails (scorpioid).
Grows in heavy soil and fields with ample sunlight and lots of rainfall. Also grows on chalkstone terraces and loess soil (wind-blown sediment). It grows in field (both cultivated and cultivated) and in low scrubland (garrigue).
A closely related species, Delphinium ithaburense, is distinguished by its fleshy pink leaves.
Preferred larkspur for dye and ink production.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
This species of larkspur was used in the Levant as an antidote for scorpion stings and snake bites, in the form of an elixir/potion. According to Al-Tamimi, it automatically (instantly?) cured patients bitten or stung.
These anti-venom properties, as far as this compiler can ascertain, remain untested.
Violet larkspur is a larkspur, and therefore poisonous, with all parts of the plant containing saponins and alkaloids that attack or suppress the nervous system. These plants are particularly hazardous around livestock, as if they are eaten the poisons can pass onto humans through milk and meat.
The purported rapidity of its anti-venom effectiveness could lend it as a quickening reagent for counterspells and counter-curses, especially those pertaining snakes and scorpions/spiders.
-Greenaway, Kate. Language of Flowers. George Routleage and Sons.
-Roux, Jessica. Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2020.
-Skinner, Charles M. "Myths and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants : In All Ages and in All Climes : Skinner, Charles M. (Charles Montgomery), 1852-1907 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming." Internet Archive, Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott Co., 1 Jan. 1970, https://archive.org/details/mythslegendsoffl00skin.
America, North: Canada (Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec), United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin)
Asia, Central: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia (West Siberia), Tajikistan
Asia, East: China, Japan, Korea, Russia (Primorye)
Europe, Northern: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden
Europe, Southern: France (Corsica), Greece, Italy, Spain
Europe, Western: France
Liverwort is a genus of herbaceous perennials in the buttercup family. Some botanists regard it as a sort of anemone.
Victorian Flower Language According to Greenaway, to the Victorians the flower meant "confidence."
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Ancient use of this plant to treat liver disorders is owed to the "doctrine of signatures," as part of the plant resembles the texture or shape of liver. However, it appears to have legitimate uses.
Astringent Liverwort has astringent properties.
Diuretic Has diuretic properties.
Wound-Treatment Can be used as a demulcent for slow-healing injuries.
Poisonous in large doses.
Liverwort can also refer to non-vascular plants from the division Marchantiophyta. Explore creative conflation of the two, both visually and as a reagent. Would likely not work if the reagent was used for chemical reasons, but if the reasons are symbolic, such as a reference to the flower-language meaning of "confidence" or to the "liver" in "liverwort," they should be completely interchangeable.
"Confidence" could refer to boldness, but it could also be used to refer to discretion, as in the case of a confidant.
While "navelwort" is undoubtedly a reference to its medicinal uses, the function of "navel" can be expanded to include the "world navel," or axis mundi, the center of the world. Navelwort might be used in a magical sachet or phylactery to aid in navigation, setting a zero-point at the time of creation so that the bearer never loses his way home.
Europe, Eastern: Belarus, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Russia (Central European Russia, North European Russia, Northwest European Russia, West Siberia), Ukraine
Europe, Northern: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden
Europe, Southern: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy (Corsica), Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Spain
Biome: Woodland and temperate regions.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Some modern herbalists use this plant to treat acne (astringent), bronchitis, and gout.
Something likely can be done with the name "pennywort." This is of greater significance in societies where a penny is still meaningful currency.
A division of non-vascular plants that shares its name with the ranunculate, genus Hepatica. Its small, fleshy leaves resemble the texture of liver.
Marchantiophyta share the same Victorian meaning of "confidence" with Hepatica.
We are not a medical website, do not take health advice from us.
Retain the archaic medicinal properties of genus Hepatica by virtue of the "doctrine of signatures."
Retained for name and distribution.
Most useful as a cheap substitute-by-conflation with the Ranunculates.
Perhaps the meaning of "confidence" comes from the notion that various abdominal organs were responsible for the emotions (ex: spleen for anger). Liver would then translate to various forms of fortitude, including socially. That also suggests diets built around building up or suppressing such organ-emotion connections.
